Marcellus News for Pennsylvania Update: June 2-10

The gas-rich land of the Marcellus shale has offered some of the hottest wildcat real estate in recent years. But if Exxon Mobil’s recent $1.7 billion acquisition is any indication, the days of eye-watering prices are over. The oil titan is paying barely half the price such acres were fetching last year, as the frenzy has shifted to Texas.

Baseline water tests for those living near new natural gas wells could cost up to $1,000 each. Advocates say it's important for residents to get the tests before any natural gas well is drilled close to their property.
Pennsylvania Rep. Mike Sturla says the state should pay for those tests through a tax or an impact fee on natural gas drillers. Sturla also says the industry should include a chemical tracer in the frack fluid used to drill the well.

Hundreds of Pennsylvania residents rallied at the State Capitol today protesting the state legislature’s inaction on Marcellus Shale drilling. The coalition of groups holding the rally called it the largest that Harrisburg has seen to date protesting Marcellus Shale gas drilling.

Accusing the government of being unable to protect the environment or public health, more than 200 people rallied on Tuesday in the Pennsylvania Capitol for tougher laws — if not an outright ban — on natural gas drilling as pressure builds on state lawmakers to approve a levy on the booming industry.

Spring water, cold as winter and clear as a windowpane, gushes out of mossy ground in a clearing sprinkled with blooms of forget-me-not next to Stone Camp, the home of the Sykesville Hunting Club in the Moshannon State Forest.
The bubbling flow has attracted generations of folks from Clearfield County and beyond, but staked into the ground now is a homemade sign bearing the warning: "Contaminated Water."

A natural gas impact fee proposal gaining traction in Harrisburg is drawing stiff resistance from some local officials, who are concerned the bill will limit the amount of control they can exert over drilling in their municipalities.

Pennsylvania Lt. Gov. Jim Cawley on Friday said that there was no documented evidence of water being affected by the fracking process used in the mining of Marcellus shale natural gas.
Yet his comments come in sharp contrast with recent violations reported by the state Department of Environmental Protection.